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Ninjago: Day of the Departed
Ninjago: Day of the Departed is a double-length special of the Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu animated series written by David Shayne, replacing the original writers of the series' previous seasons Dan and Kevin Hageman. The special takes place on Ninjago's own holiday "Day of the Departed", which is based on Halloween. The special premiered on Teletoon in Canada on October 21, 2016, premiered in the United Kingdom on October 24, 2016, and its official premiere in the United States was on October 29, 2016. It was also released on iTunes the same day. Day of the Departed was released on DVD in the United States on February 7, 2017. Day of the Departed received mixed reactions from fans of the series, with some criticizing it for its limited run time and others praising it for its good use of visuals and overall storyline. Plot The episode begins with the Ninja heading to the Ninjago Museum of History in the Ultra Stealth Raider, save for Cole, who is riding in his Rock Roader. Cole begins fading away as he is driving, although he eventually regains control. It is revealed that the Ninja are merely in a hurry to make it to the gift shop at the museum so that they can buy Day of the Departed lanterns. The Ninja meet Dr. Saunders, who gives them a tour of the new Hall of Villainy exhibit. In the exhibit are statues of Samukai, Pythor, Kozu, Cryptor, Chen, and Morro. Cole finds an exhibit with a painting of Sensei Yang and his Yin Blade weapon. Since Cole is still fading away, he goes unnoticed by his friends. The painting of Yang then comes to life and begins talking to Cole, telling him to “close the circle”. Cole then snaps out of his trance and, realizing that he is forgotten by his friends, takes the Yin Blade to the Temple of Airjitzu. Meanwhile, the rest of the Ninja celebrate by remembering their lost ancestors. Lloyd and Misako remember Garmadon at the Corridor of Elders, Zane remembers his creator Dr. Julian, Kai and Nya remember their parents at the blacksmith shop, and Jay spends time with his parents. At the Temple of Airjitzu, Cole prepares to “settle his debt” with Yang by killing him with his own Yin Blade. However, this backfires when Cole shatters a mysterious glass sphere with the blade instead of Yang. The spirits of the departed villains escape from the sphere and possess their statues at the museum, and Yang and his ghost students hold Cole hostage. Yang reveals that everything is going according to his plan, declaring that this Day of the Departed will be remembered as his “night of the return”. Meanwhile, the resurrected villains talk among each other, confused about where they are and why they have returned. The painting of Yang comes to life and explains that the villains have been brought back via his magic and that they can only remain for the duration of the Yin Yang eclipse. Then, we see Pythor enter the museum. Pythor is the only villain who did not have his statue come to life, since he is still alive. Overhearing the villains and Yang, Pythor demands that he wants in on revenge. The villains then set out to settle their scores with the Ninja, Samukai going after Jay, Pythor going after Lloyd, Kozu going after Dareth, Cryptor going after Zane, Chen going after Kai and Nya, and Morro going after Sensei Wu. Back at the Temple of Airjitzu, Yang explains his past, and that he discovered the dark magic that the Yin Blade possessed. Thinking that the Yin Blade could grant eternal life, Yang wanted to be remembered as Ninjago’s greatest master by using it on himself. However, this backfired horribly, and Yang and his students were cursed to haunt the temple as ghosts. Yang now plans to use the “Rift of Return” to return to life. The Ninja then run into each of their villains. However, rather than hunting down Wu for revenge, Morro arrives at the remains of the Ninja’s monastery to warn Wu about Yang’s plan and the villains who have returned. Before Wu and Morro can arrive to help any of the Ninja, they are eventually able to overcome each of the villains, sending their spirits back to the “Departed Realm”. Since Pythor is still alive, he simply digs an underground tunnel and retreats. Also, Dareth defeats Kozu by relocating the Helmet of Shadows in the museum, thus giving him control of Kozu’s stone scout minions. With all of the villains defeated, the Ninja arrive back at the museum, and Wu arrives with Morro. Noticing that Cole is nowhere to be found, the Ninja head to the Temple of Airjitzu. With the eclipse coming to a close, Morro’s spirit then leaves his statue. Back at the temple, Cole fights Yang. The Ninja arrive in the Destiny’s Bounty, but are unable to help Cole due to the Rift, which is preventing them from coming any closer to the temple. Cole is eventually able to defeat Yang when his hands and arms begin to turn orange, seemingly returning himself to physical form. Cole frees Yang’s cursed students and sends them through the Rift, restoring each of them to life. Knowing that he has been defeated, Yang explains that he wanted to return to life because he feared that no one would remember him after he became a ghost. Cole explains that Yang is already remembered as the creator of Airjitzu, and is thus able to talk Yang into going through the Rift with him, so that they can both be returned to life. However, Yang explains that the curse of the temple requires one person to stay behind as the master of the house. Yang decides to stay behind, and Cole goes through the Rift. With the eclipse and the Rift having come to a close, the Ninja land at the temple, where they find that Cole has been restored to life, save for a small green scar on his forehead. They also find that the Temple of Airjitzu has been restored to its original state. It is then revealed that the events of the special are actually a story that has been retold by Cole, leaving the audience to question whether or not the events actually happened. It is (more or less) confirmed that the events did happen, because Cole is human while telling the story, and Yang is present inside the temple. The special ends with dozens of lanterns being released into the air. Marketing On January 27, 2016, images of all of the summer 2016 LEGO Ninjago sets (minus 70596 Samurai X Cave Chaos) on display at the Nuremberg Toy Fair were leaked onto the internet. At the time of the leak, it was presumed that these sets were based on the seventh season of the Ninjago series. On March 22, 2016, a low-resolution photograph of promotional artwork for the LEGO sets based on the special was unofficially leaked onto the internet. Throughout April - May 2016, official images of the sets were leaked. The sets were officially released in Europe on June 3, 2016 and on August 1, 2016 for the United States. On May 13, 2016, an official poster was released featuring the tagline "Time to Close the Circle". Throughout June - July 2016, various "Villain Throwback" videos were released, wherein the character Dr. Saunders provides brief backstories of the villains featured in the Hall of Villainy exhibit. At SDCC 2016, Dan and Kevin Hageman confirmed the title Day of the Departed and its air date of October 29, 2016. On September 30, 2016, LEGO released the official trailer. Notes *''Day of the Departed'' was first confirmed to be a special by the Hageman Brothers at SDCC 2016. *A wave of sets based on the special were released on June 3, 2016 for Europe and on August 1, 2016 for the United States. Gallery Day of the Departed Art.jpg|Promotional artwork. Category:Films